Arachnophobia: Dead End Countdown
by The Amazing Shrinking Violet
Summary: A story set between 'Arachnophobia' and 'Duality', both by JB Writer and with his consent. An old enemy of Spider-Man's moves into Jump City, with his eyes set on becoming the new top dog of the social and criminal worlds.
1. And Every Story Must Have a Beginning

The Teen Titans

in

"Dead End Countdown"

Chapter One: "Every Story Must Have a Beginning..."

Disclaimer: The usual stuff applies here - I don't own any of the characters being used here; they are the property of Marvel Comics and DC Comics, along with (in some incarnations) the WB and Cartoon Network, as well as Sony Entertainment. Most of the concepts being used here are as well not mine, but borrowed or recycled from older comic book storylines and plots from years gone by, as well as more recent fare. I'm just borrowing everyone from their respective owners to tell this story.

Author's Note: As in the past, this story borrows the concepts, characters, plot, and setting of JB Writer's Arachnophobia/Duality series, this entry (written by me) meant to fit in between them and hopefully explain some of the plot of both that led to where things left off there (hopefully JB will finish it one day, and we'll see if I was right), with myself adding more characters from both companies (and others) for the purpose of this particular entry. Also, I will be incorporating some of the mythology/backstory of the more recent Marvel animated series, such as Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes and the newest show, Spectacular Spider-Man.

* * *

"So....whatcha doin'?"

Raven sighed as she continued to pack the backpack before her, filling it up with a number of books on her area of expertise - the mystical arts, the study of demons, and like topics - while having to deal with the 'childlike' curiosity of her new boyfriend, who was currently hanging from the ceiling of the sorceress' room on a thin strand of webbing. "I told you this already. I'm going over to the university to help with a course on Demonology."

"Why?"

"Because I was invited by a new professor, who was brought in by the new sponsor to the university, and frankly, I find his thesis interesting. A bit flawed, and lacking the understanding of at least half of od the demonic underworld, but still...interesting."

"Is that that thing you were reading a few days ago and kept pushing me out every time I came in?" Spider-Man regarded the pale girl with a curious look on his face, though that was only vaguely visible due to his mask.

"Yes, that 'thing'. I don't know who the sponsor is yet, but Robin told me earlier the team has an invite to see him for an awards ceremony."

"Cool...wait, another one?"

"Yeah, tell me about it..." The girl mused softly, shrugging as she finished packing, and slid the bag on her back, adjusting her cloak so that she was reasonably comfortable. "Anyway, it's someone big out of New York. What used to be your New York."

"Really? Huh."

"Anyway, I have to be going. I'll call you when I get there, okay?"

"Sure, Rae-Rae! I'll leave my cell on for you."

"With an amused smile, Raven floated up into the air, and phased through her window, and began to fly into the city, while the love-struck arachnid hero dropped to the floor, and walked out of the darkly decorated room, and headed to the main area of the tower, to fix himself a sandwich. As he entered, he came into the tail end of a conversation he probably should've been there for.

"...Osborn wants us to be at the Jump University this afternoon, to attend at an awards ceremony for the local heroes." The first word caught Spider-Man's attention, his previously-cheery mood dropping into the lowest pit he could imagine, quickly turning to face Robin, the speaker.

"Di-did you just say Osborn? Which Osborn?"

"I think his name is Norman Osborn, head of a prestigious New York company--"

"–Called Oscorp, I know." Spider-Man spoke with a heavy sigh, and leaned against the counter, sliding down to the floor, while Starfire, Beast Boy, and Cyborg looked at one another, and then to Robin, and then to the red and blue clad hero. "He's the father of my best friend Harry..."

"Oh, what wonderful news!" Starfire began, cheerily.

"...and he's also the craziest, most twisted, depraved person I've ever known. He likes to spend his nights in green and purple body armor with a green fright mask riding a metal bat and throwing bombs shaped like pumpkins."

"...Um, what?" That left Starfire at a lack of words.

"He's really a supervillain named the Green Goblin...and an old 'playmate' of mine. You want a comparison example to a guy you know? He's like your old 'pal' Slade and Lex Luthor rolled into one...only crazy as a cat on a hot tin roof. He's probably moving out here to get at me...."

"Why is that, friend Peter?" Starfire asked, before Robin nodded knowingly.

"Just like Slade has that fixation with you guys, ol'Gosborn has an obsession with me. Namely with either beating me to an inch of my life, or making me his sidekick. He's just the right mix of crazy obsessed and stinking filthy rich to get away with it, too. Even when he gets 'outed', he just blows a nice big wad of cash and everyone forgets and he gets away with it. I can't tell you how many lives he's ruined in his desire to get revenge on me for always stopping him....and Raven's on her way to the university! Damn!" With that, Spider-Man hopped up from the floor, and, almost frantically, bolted out of the room, with the other Titans on his heels.

"Spider-Man, wait! We should go in together!" Robin called out, managing to catch up to the other teen hero, and grasped his shoulder. "If this guy is really as bad as you say he is, it'd make more sense to go in as a team! This could be exactly what he wants!"

With a sigh, the arachnid hero nodded, and slowed down, looking back to the team leader with a tilt of his head. "What do you have in mind?"

"We'll take the T-car and my R-cycle, and drive into the city as a group. Maybe he won't try anything if we're together, considering he doesn't know us."

"Sounds like a plan," Cyborg piped in, nodding a bit himself and punching his right hand with his left fist.

"Indeed. We should get to Raven's side as quickly as possible, friends, in order to see that she comes to no harm." This came from Starfire, who was just as worried as Spider-Man about their friend's safety.

* * *

While the Titans were mobilizing into the city, Raven was already at the university, having teleported herself there to get quicker near the end, and arrived at the office of Doctor Mason Macendale, a supposedly-renowed paranormal professor and expert on the demons that had once inhabited Spider-Man's world, before it became one with the Titans', and caused massive upheaval in the underworld. Raven had been invited by the university seemingly to help this professor in his research with the other half of the 'new' demonic underworld...though why anyone would want to know this information was beyond her. There was just a sudden upswing in the interest in the demonic, and Raven felt the strange need to do her part...especially when she had been asked by certain other superheroes to lend her help. Zatanna, for one, had been working with this doctor, and if the resident magician of the Justice League saw no problem with this, then what else could the Titans' resident goth girl do?

She phased through the wall of the professor's office at the university, and looked around, seeing a large room with a desk with a computer on it, and several large bookshelves full of arcane and more modern texts on the subjects he was teaching, finding herself impressed by it all, regardless of how 'human' it was. The grey girl waited patiently for the man to show, and wasn't disappointed after another five minutes (give or take), when the man of the hour stepped in, looking like the modern academic, so to speak (as popularized by Nicholas Cage, Tom Hanks, and in the past, Harrison Ford), and carrying with him an attache case full of papers. He had long dark hair, a pair of glasses on, and casual clothing with a sports jacket on over it.

"Ah, Raven, correct? Wonderful." He said, smiling, nodding as he motioned for her to take the seat in front of his desk, while he sat behind it. "I was awaiting your arrival...I would've been here sooner, but I had business to take care of with the university's new benefactor..."

"That's fine, Doctor. As long as you explain again why exactly you need this information."

"It's fine. It's a rather personal issue, but I feel I can explain it to you super heroes, and that you'd understand why I'm doing this. My brother, Jason, some time ago, made a deal with a demon named N'astirh, because he was at a low point in his life, and was fooled into making this deal by his so-called friends...and became a monster. I've been trying to help him find peace and free him from his curse and give him back his humanity."

"I see...it's definately a noble gesture, if somewhat....unattainable."

"I know. Everyone I've seen have been telling me this...but it's also my goal to educate the youth of today into not making the same mistakes as my misguided brother." The professor nodded as he spoke, leaning back in his chair a bit. "I think that too is a noble effort."

"I don't know if I entirely agree with you, but I can't fault you for trying," Raven said, blinking, thinking on her own nature and her 'destined fate' as the daughter of Trigon...and the now-hopeful prospects of avoiding that future. "Just let me know what I can do to help."

"Certainly. I was thinking of starting with--" While he spoke, there was a sudden commotion from the outside, mostly from the students outside gathering around...something.

"Oh no...don't tell me..." Raven groaned as she stood up and walked over to the window, her worst fears realized - the crowd of students had gathered around the Titans, who were, good-naturedly, trying to get out of the mess they'd landed in, so to speak, and were also trying to locate Raven. With a sigh, she floated out of the office window and hovered above them, blinking a few times with an exasperated look on her face. "What is it, guys? Honestly...I told you I was going out. You couldn't leave me alone for an hour?" Everyone else on the team pointed to Spider-Man, who had an air of worried embarassment about him.

"Well...I..." He began, before he heard something that made his blood run cold and his body stiffen.

"So you're the Teen Titans. Wonderful. You came early." The voice was smooth, suave, cultured, and came from a middle-aged man with his red hair in a distinctive style, close to his scalp, and wearing a black business suit with a matching tie, shoes, and a wine colored shirt. "Hello, Spider-Man. It's good to see you again." Raven, for her part, suddenly felt very uncomfortable without realizing it at first, until she pinpointed what it was exactly she was feeling - hate. Pure, raw, violent hate. Coming from someone she never thought capable of that emotion - Spider-Man.

"Hello...Norman." The teen hero said, growling, teeth gritted as he eyed his long-time nemesis. It seemed that the hate between the two was one-sided, but anyone with half a brain could see the smirk, the smug look of superiority on the older man's face, and the calculating, cold gleam in his eyes that there was something dark to this man. Something sinister. Something...familiar, on very Slade-ian proportions. "It's....nice...to see you again." He returned, with that growl still in his voice, which Osborn pretended to ignore.

"And you must be Robin, yes?" The seemingly-friendly businessman took the Titans' leader's hand and gave it a firm, professional shake, with Robin forced to return the gesture in a similar fashion, and force a smile out of uneasiness. This man had a peculiar aura, familiar to anyone who knew criminal masterminds, even if he didn't come across as an actual villain. Then again, a good Wall Streeter could count as a villain too in some circles...but Robin could tell there was more to this man than he let on, due to the strength he was casually displaying in the shake. "Wonderful, wonderful people. You do a good job, and I'm glad you five have Spider-Man with you. He's a very helpful young man, if underappreciated."

"Yes, we're...glad to have him." Robin replied, desperately unsure of what to say now, and finding contact with this man even more unsettling than with that of Lex Luthor or even Jump's infamous-if-deceased criminal overlord Slade Wilson.

"Indeed. And this must be the charming Starfire...the alien princess from a far away world...indeed, a very charming girl." Osborn offered his hand to Starfire, who nervously took it and gave it a shake, a firm one for her...and was surprised by the resiliency of the normal-appearing human, considering he didn't even budge at the surprising amount of pressure she had inadvertantly put on the businessman's hand.

"Thank you...I think," she replied, shakily, also feeling that unpleasant vibe Osborn was giving off to the team leader. In time, Norman shook hands with the other members of the team, before turning to Raven. And there it was. The empath could feel the corruption, the evil, the pure insanity of this man as he regarded her with what was a kind smile, but to her was more predatory than Osborn thought he was giving off. She nearly backed away in a blind terror, but stood her ground and returned the shake as she continued to levitate from the ground, but after releasing his hand, she quickly floated behind Spider-Man and took cover, the more timid side of her nature coming out...

"Well, well...I didn't know this. You make a fine couple," he said, in a pleasant manner, but one the six teen heroes before him found threatening and disturbing. The man knew it as well for, for a moment, his smile and the glint in his eyes turned cruel, and he chuckled. "The ceremony's not for an hour, at least. Perhaps you'd like a tour of the campus, or attend to your own business...I believe Raven is helping with a new teacher's curriculum, isn't she?"

"Y-yes, that's right..." The pale girl said, somewhat unsettled by this strange man, and that ever-present smile, just as Doctor Macendale came out from his building, and joined the ever-growing crowd that had built up around the Titans and Norman.

"And here's the man of the hour now. How's your work been going, Doctor Macendale?" The businessman's attention was now taken up by the new professor, and the two made small-talk, while the Titans moved away a bit, and began to talk amongst themselves.

"See what I mean? The man's off his nut," Spider-Man said to the other five, his eyes narrowed behind his mask (and his mask lenses having narrowed somewhat themselves). "This is why I don't like being here."

"But if you're right about him - and I'm very sure you are - we can't just leave him here to do what he likes," Robin said, firmly, while Starfire fidgeted a bit.

"But friends, I do not like this man. He gives me what you humans call 'the creeps'. Like a Unthar at night on Tamaran. It is most disquieting." she said, finally, biting her lower after speaking.

"I hate to admit it, but this dude is SERIOUSLY creepy. And I thought Slade was bad," Cyborg said, shivering a bit and looking back for a moment at the still-chatting Osborn and Macendale.

"Man, just when I thought we were gonna have some time off...now we got a new criminal mastermind to deal with? Dude," Beast Boy said, the green changeling's ears drooping as he sighed in dismay.

"Raven, I don't know if you should be here right now," Spider-Man spoke again, the goth in question practically clinging to him for a few moments, before regaining her composure and sighing loudly.

"I made a commitment, and it's not like this guy can get the drop on me...if it was that easy, I'd be dead already..." She said, in reply, while her love shook his head again.

"This guy's INTENSE. He's only like the guys you know in the loosest sense. He's a whole new kind of 'off the rails' for you guys, trust me. He's crazy enough that he has imitators. You can't say that about most of your villains."

"Spider-Dude does have a point there, guys," Beast Boy said, sighing again. "It's not like we've got Slade copy-cats running around and doing their best to rip him off...unless you count all those darn robots he has."

"Yeah, Spidey's right; we have a lot of oddball villains, and our share of big cheese types, but never any outright copycats..." Cyborg added, his one human eye blinking as he spoke. "We really should treat this carefully...we don't want anything t'happen to you, Rae."

The goth blushed a bit at the shows of concern from her friends - or maybe it was from the crushing pressure of Starfire hugging her getting to her, as the alien princess had indeed latched onto her best friend, hugging her tightly out of concern - and managed to shrug a bit. "Look, guys, I'll be fine. If it helps, you can stick around and watch out for me, and we'll all leave together at the end of the ceremony."

"That works for me," Robin said, smiling a bit, while everyone else nodded. Spider-Man took a deep breath, sighing, and nodded as well.

"Alright, we'll play it this way. I'll know if there's anything wrong anyway, and I won't be too far away." As Starfire released Raven's torso, the wallcrawler's red-gloved hands took Raven's into his, and squeezed them tenderly.

"I'll be fine, Peter, really," she said, very softly, so that only the Titans would hear, and leave Osborn out of it, as he seemed to be far too engrossed in his conversation with his new employee.

"I know...'cause I'll be watching over you all day, pretty lady," he said in a soft, almost goofy manner, prompting (at least in Raven's head) a giggle.

And with that, without even fully realizing it, the Titans began on their newest adventure.

* * *

End Notes: And so ends the first chapter of yet another fanfic. I do this a lot, but I'm planning on working on all of them, for those that still care. This is just my first effort at getting back into the swing after graduating/convocating from my university. If you have any questions, by all means, review, or leave me an email. Thanks very much for all the support, my good friends.


	2. X, Part One: New Kid in Town

The Teen Titans

in

"Dead End Countdown"

Chapter Two: "X, Part One: New Kid in Town"

Disclaimer: The usual stuff applies here - I don't own any of the characters being used here; they are the property of Marvel Comics and DC Comics, along with (in some incarnations) the WB and Cartoon Network, as well as Sony Entertainment. Most of the concepts being used here are as well not mine, but borrowed or recycled from older comic book storylines and plots from years gone by, as well as more recent fare. I'm just borrowing everyone from their respective owners to tell this story.

Author's Note: As in the past, this story borrows the concepts, characters, plot, and setting of JB Writer's Arachnophobia/Duality series, this entry (written by me) meant to fit in between them and hopefully explain some of the plot of both that led to where things left off there (hopefully JB will finish it one day, and we'll see if I was right), with myself adding more characters from both companies (and others) for the purpose of this particular entry. Also, I will be incorporating some of the mythology/backstory of the more recent Marvel animated series, such as Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes and the newest show, Spectacular Spider-Man.

Author's Note #2: Also, from this point, unless a relevant change is needed in the disclaimer, I shall be copying and pasting it for the most part.

Author's Note #3: Since this is an AU story, it falls upon me to adapt and alter the storylines of the seasons past 2 to keep continuity straight. So, this fanfic chapter happens before Season 3's "X" episode, as well as during and after.

* * *

If this were 19th Century England, one would be hearing the town/city crier hollering "Six o'clock and all's well!" or some variation along those lines. It was indeed six AM, and the only person awake in the fabulous marvel of modern technology that was Titans Tower was Robin, the former sidekick to the famed Batman. He was still clad in his red, yellow, green, and black costume, domino mask still firmly in place, and he was doing what he always did at six in the morning - he was working on a case. Not a Titans case, but a police case, as he had been asked to look into it to see if this particular one (a robbery) had any connection to past Titans cases. It was certainly familiar, but not in a good way - it had all the earmarks of the robberies HE himself had performed as Red X...which was impossible...

As the former Boy Wonder sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying to ignore the overbearing weariness that was slowly overcoming his iron resolve, there was a sudden flash on the computer at his desk. Yawning for a moment, and walking over to it, he examined the screen, his eyes (and mask lenses) narrowed - someone was in the main area of the Tower, prowling around...though he couldn't get a picture of whoever it was. He went through the security system, thinking someone had broken in...only 'they' hadn't. The computer logs were showing that the last person to enter the tower was Spider-Man...but barely ten minutes ago...which didn't make sense. Robin knew for a fact the arachnid-themed hero was in bed, as were the other members of the team... _'So someone's finally figured out how to beat our systems...not good.'_

Robin quickly exited his room, and ran down the hall as silently as he could, before entering the living space the Titans shared...and that was the home to their main computer interface...as he entered, he could just make out, on the ceiling, a shadowed figure. With a low grunt, the teen hero withdrew three birdarangs, and tossed them at the figure, who (as far as Robin could tell) wasn't facing him...only for that figure to drop from the roof and spin through the air, catching all three projectiles and tossing them back. The Boy Wonder dodged and heard three loud, disquieting 'thunks' - the 'rangs had just been embedded in the wall behind him.

"That's not very nice, you know," came a female voice, in an amused fashion, while the figure stood there - visibility was low, so Robin couldn't make out any details aside from the fact that this female was clad entirely in a skin-tight bodysuit, complete with a full-head mask. "You could poke a girl's eye out, big guy," came the voice again, in a more teasing manner, while the figure stood in a relaxed stance, waiting for Robin to make his next move. The hero didn't disappoint, bringing out a freezing disc and throwing it as hard as he could. The figure initially looked like she was about to grab it, but then pulled her hand away just as the disc came within arm range, and somehow flung it back at Robin without touching it, the disc exploding rather noisily against the wall...and main door, freezing it shut with a very large amount of ice. "Wow...that would've sucked," she remarked, blandly, as the Tower's alarms began to go off. "Aww, damn....the jig's up..."

"That's not all that's up!" Suddenly, Robin was in the air, and coming down on the clearly-young woman's head with his feet extended. With surprising speed, she caught the Boy Wonder's heels and threw him at the window behind the two, yelping with surprise as his staff struck the back of her head. With an almost smug look on his face, Robin grinned, and withdrew another Birdarang. "Ready to give up yet?"

"Ohhhh, you asked for it now, Red," the girl growled, and rushed forward, moving again at that intense speed, hands and feet flying in a rather familiar fashion...almost too familiar. But certainly...messier. Robin blocked most of the shots, only to find the girl's right fist had just struck him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him and cracking the concealed armor sewn into the tunic. Sounds of something banging against the frozen-shut door could be heard, until it exploded into fragments, the other Titans rushing in, clad in their nightwear.

"Robin! We will help you against this Zardvark!" Starfire cried out, flying in, only to find herself face to face with a series of small grey pellets fired from a device on the intruder's wrist. They struck the alien princess' body, and exploded and were soon smothering her (though not literally) in a thick, sticky substance. Beast Boy rushed in in the form of a cheetah, and was taken down as fast as he had gotten in on the action, the girl subduing him by hitting him in the back of the head with an incredibly powerful backhand and knocking him for a loop. Cyborg began firing sonic blasts, the girl dodging them with what looked like ease.

"Damn! Stay still, punk!" The large Titan growled, still firing, while Raven began a chant, and Spider-Man moved in as well. The webbed hero struck the girl in the face, just as she struck him, both of them surprised at being struck.

"Ow!"

"Nnnn!"

The two began trading shots, and this is where Robin and the others were truly puzzled - the two masked figures were trading shots, neither one landing a blow on the other for the most part, but when they did, they were surprised at being struck. Finally, the lights came on, and Spider-Man stopped, left hand grasping the front of the other's suit...and sighed. "Damnit, Jess..." he groaned, releasing the blue sweater that was trapped in his fingers, just as the girl released the front of his costume. "False alarm, boss."

"What are you talking about? She attacked us! Cyborg growled, still aiming for the girl, before getting a good look at her...then at Spider-Man...then back again. "Oh hell. One of your buddies?" He groaned, eyeing the bright red bodysuit, with silver bands around the wrists, a brown strap (with a pouch) on each ankle, the tear-dropped shape lenses on the mask, and the blue sweater with the sleeves torn off, and a large black spider on the front.

"You could say that," the girl said, cryptically, before getting a slap to the back of the head - a light one for Spider-Man, but still enough to startle the girl. "Ow! What was that for?"

"For not coming at a reasonable hour..." he replied, sourly, getting shoved by the girl. Starfire just looked from the arachnid hero she knew, to the clearly-arachnid-themed girl that had been their attacker, and blinked rapidly.

"You two know each other?"

"We're like family," Spider-Man remarked, with a slightly mysterious tone. "What brings you here, Jess?"

"Well, I'm sure I don't have to tell you that Norman Osborn's in town."

"Yeah, I already know that much."

"Well, this you don't know - Kaine followed him here." That sent Spider-Man for a loop.

"Kaine? Are you serious? Man...the last person I'd want to be thrown into this mess..." he sighed theatrically, putting his hands on his masked face.

"Who's Kaine? And for that matter, who are you?" Robin asked, an angry look on his face as he motioned with his staff to the girl, as Cyborg did his best to wake Beast Boy up.

"I'm the Scarlet Spider...and that's all I'm telling you guys. All you need to know is, if there wasn't a Spider-Man and a Green Goblin, I wouldn't be here right now." She replied, firmly, one hand idly toying with the strings to the hood of the sweater.

"Wow, I'm impressed...I don't know many girls who act that much like a guy before," Raven remarked, sarcastically, while the two Spiders looked at one another.

"She's not very nice. Why do you date her?"

"Well, she's nice to me."

"Then why isn't she nice to me?"

"Because she doesn't know you yet?"

"Well, I'm not taking my mask off for all these guys to see my face."

"Well, I can just out and say it."

"Fine, knock yourself out."

Before Spider-Man could say anything, Robin held up a hand.

"First, I have a question." That was responded by two nods from the two arachnids. "How did you get past our security system, and why does it read that it was Spider-Man that entered the building?"

"Well, that's actually related to what I was about to blurt out, but props on guessing, boss. Jess here...is a clone. Of me."

That caused quite a few eye widenings.

"It's a long story involving a university professor who was sick in the head over a girl he was old enough to be the father of, and an intense hatred of me...and the bankroll of ol' Osborn. They had my DNA, they started to mass-produce me...in female variants. I dunno why. There's three main clones...Jess here, Kaine, and a freak called Spidercide, a version of me with shapeshifting powers and a whole lot of crazy thrown in." Spider-Man shrugged, while Scarlet crossed her arms over her chest.

"Yes, a sordid tale for another time. Can I PLEASE get something to eat now? I can't get the damn fridge open," she remarked, causing a bit of confusion.

"Wait...you were...trying to open the fridge?" Robin said, stupidly.

"Yes! I've been on the bus from New York for at least eight hours, without any lunch...I could really use something to eat."

"She's not as funny as I am," Spider-Man said in a mock-whisper to Raven, who just rolled her eyes.

"You're not as funny as you think you are yourself, big guy," she remarked, an amused smile on her face as she playfully shoved him.

"I can make you laugh, though," he replied, giving her his best 'big eyes' look with those lenses, much to the goth's annoyance. The red clad girl rolled her eyes beneath her mask, and sighed softly.

"Okay, get a room you two, mmkay? I came here for eats, not an adult video."

"This one is rather...rude," Starfire noted, blandly.

"Well, you tend to get rude when you find out you're an imitation. And a poor quality one at that." The Scarlet Spider shrugged, hiking up the bottom of her mask as she opened up the refrigerator and began rummaging. "Old pizza...yum," she said, sarcastically, as she pulled out a box of day old pizza, and began eating the contents (after first checking to see if it was safe), while everyone else yawned. Then Raven (clad in her leotard and boots, but minus her cloak) eyed her boyfriend.

"You're...in full costume."

"Yeah, so?"

"So we all just got out of bed..."

"Well, knowing you, you fell asleep reading something...again. Me, I'm master of quick-changing!" The male arachnid puffed out his chest, while the female snorted, nearly choking as a result. Cyborg reached over, and gave Scarlet a hard slap on the back, which nearly sent her falling forward (though she nearly hit the floor, she was adhering to it as she would a wall or ceiling).

"Well, guess we should hook up your...er...clone...with a guest room, then," Cy said, smiling as he eyed the scarlet-clad girl (and paying close attention to her figure as well) and gave her a thumbs up, while she just sighed and continued eating. When she had finished (the entire pizza, no less), she tossed the box into the nearby trashbin, and stretched out a little.

"Sounds good. Couldn't sleep at all on that bus..."

"Ooooh, my head..." This came from the now-conscious Beast Boy. "What hit me, dudes?"

"The lady Spider over there," Cy pointed, while Scarlet pulled down her mask and waved, before dusting her gloves off on her sweater. "Y'know, I think we all want to ask..."

"What's the deal with the sweater?" Raven asked for him, perking a brow and giving the newcomer a look. She merely shrugged and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Saw it at a museum giftshop, bought it, ended up making it part of my costume...sans sleeves."

"Well, it...works. On you, I mean." Raven replied, at a loss again.

"I get that a lot." Scarlet shrugged yet again, and chuckled softly.

"Let's get you a room, and get Beast Boy some ice," Robin said, sighing a bit as he eyed the Titans' uninvited 'guest'.

* * *

Four hours later...

After another four hours of sleep, the other Titans were all in a shape to continue the earlier discussion, while Robin continued his work on that case file, growing more and more disquieted as he reviewed the evidence. With a sigh, he decided to bring it up to the team...after taking care of the more pressing matter at hand. Which wasn't what you'd think it was. There came a piercing scream, and Beast Boy in the form of a housecat running for it.

"You little!" This came from the Titans' guest, who emerged from the guest room they gave her wrapped only in a bath towel, a furious look on her face. Robin sighed, and rubbed the bridge of his nose, just as the brunette flicked her wrist and pressed two fingers down against her palm. There was a sudden fwwip sound as a thin strand of web shot from a spot on her bare arm and struck Beast Boy's tail, as she began reeling him in. "I'll show you what happens when you spy on me!"

"That's enough!" Robin, irritated, cut the line and gave Beast Boy a harsh look, the animorph leaving in a sulk while the brunette gave him a dirty look. "What was that about?"

"I caught your little friend trying to get a peek...said it was a bet or some garbage..." As Robin eyed her face, he could see the identical resemblance to Spider-Man's face....and judging by the gasp her heard behind him, so could Raven. "What's her deal?" The messy haired brunette girl asked, just as one of Raven's hands went to her face, and began feeling it, making her flush. "Y'know, you keep that up, I'll have to do something about it...I mean, I STILL have all the impulses of a healthy, hot-blooded teenaged guy." Raven rolled her eyes at that, and then gave the girl a deep look in the eyes.

"...It's impressive. I can barely tell them apart...except your eyes...they're...harder." The goth remarked, finally, releasing Jessica's face, the girl shifting a bit out of slight embarassment.

"They should be...considering I'm just a very good copy who'll be dead in a few years."

"That's not a very good joke," Robin commented, raising a brow slightly.

"Wasn't trying to joke. The process used to make me was flawed, meaning I have a progressive degenerative condition. One day, who knows when, I'll die and turn into a small puddle of grey goo..." the brunette said, bitterly, clenching a fist for a moment. "But the guy who made me...us...didn't really care how long we'd live, he just wanted an easy way to get back at the original wallcrawler."

The other two had no idea what to say to that, and the brunette just shrugged.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I should get some clothes on before I kick your green friend's rear." As she returned to her guest room, Robin sweatdropped and sighed, while Raven looked thoughtful.

"Even after all this time, he still won't tell me everything..." she mused, softly, almost inaudibly.

'_There's probably a good reason for that,' _came a reply in her head, with a familiar intellectual sounding tone.

'_Oooh, I know! Let's go see him, and get the truth out of him!'_

'_Quiet...' _thought/ 'spoke' the 'real' Raven as she sighed, and began to float down the hallway to where the other Titans would be found, passing the walking Robin as she did. _'I'll ask him later.'_

* * *

And so, fifteen minutes later (allowing time for their guest to get ready, as well as for the other Titans not present in the main living area to assemble), Robin was standing in front of the monitor mounted in front of the semi-circular sofa, waiting for everyone to get a seat. With the added company of the Scarlet Spider, it was looking slightly cramped, with the two arachnid-themed heroes in closer contact to one another than they would normally like, with Scarlet occasionally trying to shove her 'twin' away with little success. Robin just sighed as this behavior began to spread, and the less mature Titans began squirming and fussing, while Raven just did her best not to show her building irritation at this situation.

"Uh...is everyone ready yet?" Robin blinked, watching the melee before him before sighing and rubbing his forehead. When things had finally settled down, he resumed talking. "What I wanted you all here for is related to a case I've been helping Jump PD with...basically, a number of technology thefts throughout the city, from various high-end companies - Wayne, the new Stark building, and various other producers of very expensive, very rare computer technologies...and energy sources. The thefts are all familiar, but there's no conclusive evidence as to the identity of the thief, so we're going in blind."

"Uh, what do you mean we, _kemosabe_?" The Scarlet Spider asked, raising her hand, a slight snicker coming from the other arachnid, who himself was just about to make the same joke.

"As of right now, you're a member of the team. If you're really a clone of Spider-Man, and you choose to be a her regardless of your origin, then we can trust you. And we're going to need all the help we can get - the Titans East are on another case of their own right now, and we're all that we have...unless one of you two wants to go ask the other spider-themed person in the city to join up." Robin said, smiling a bit at the last part.

"Uh, other spider-themed person?" Scarlet looked at the Titans, then Spider-Man...and then began to choke the other red and blue clad teenager. "VENOM'S HERE?! WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL ME VENOM WAS HERE?!"

"Ack! Didn't—get—the—chance–!" Spider-Man said, gagging as he was being throttled.

"You know he hates me! Worse than he hates you!"

"Uh, dude, is that even possible?" Beast Boy cocked his head a bit.

"Venom's sense of 'honor' means that while he'll occasionally deal with the original deal here, it also means he absolutely hates...HATES...copies, imposters, or spin-offs. Case in point?" The girl lifted up the bottom of her sweater and top, and revealed a rather wicked scar running the entire length of her stomach, that, despite healing correctly, still looked pretty damn painful. "He gave me this when I tried stopping him one time when Pete was...indisposed. I also had to deal with one of his other kids, a symbiote named Scream...which wasn't the least bit fun."

"Wait, what? Venom has ANOTHER kid?" That came from a disbelieving Cyborg.

"Oh yeah...he had five others...only one of them, Scream, went crazy and hacked up her 'siblings'...she's more of a law-abider now than she was before, though...she mostly reformed and occasionally drops by to see me."

"Oooooh...." That came from Spider-Man.

"Oh, shut up."

"Getting a little hanky panky, huh?"

"Shut. Up." the red and blue clad teenaged woman slapped her twin on the head, silencing him. "You don't hear me making fun of you and Venom when you two team up...and you do it so many times..."

"I was just teasing."

"It wasn't that funny."

"...Right. Moving on," Robin sighed, facepalming for a moment as he eyed the two arachnids, his gaze quickly silencing them. "We're all going out, and we're all looking into this. We're going to have to give our guest her own communicator." Robin produced a standard Titans comms device and tossed it to her, which she caught in her right hand.

"And does this fit on a belt?" She indicated the brown belt she wore at her waist, featuring a red light on the center framed in a silver buckle, as well as numerous cartridges for her mechanical web-shooters (containing her own special concoction, impact webbing, as well as 'stingers', tranquillizer darts fired from the bands on her wrists). "Wait, never mind...I'll just put it...here." She lifted up her left leg, and slid the communicator into the pouch at her ankle, getting comfortable. She stamped her foot a bit, and nodded. "Yeah, this is good. Later I should get a spiffy costume like Pete's, though. I'm feeling left out."

"You always want my toys."

"Well, they're good toys."

Robin just sighed, wondering how long it would take before 'Spider-Man in Stereo' got to his nerves.

* * *

End Notes: And for a change, not a cliffhanger. But they'll be back for the next chapter. You can probably guess who the 'villain'/guest-star of the next chapter is, just by the title alone. And more of Spider-Man's past comes out throughout this story. Be back for more, next time.


End file.
